scim toolbar remains always visible and menu no longer works

[Louis-Dominique Dubeau]

Binary package hint: scim

I run Ubuntu 7.10

My scim packages:

$ dpkg-query -W "*scim*" | gawk '$2 {print;}'
libscim8c2a 1.4.7-1ubuntu2
scim 1.4.7-1ubuntu2
scim-bridge 0.4.10-0ubuntu1
scim-bridge-agent 0.4.12-1
scim-bridge-client-gtk 0.4.12-1
scim-chewing 0.3.1-2ubuntu2
scim-gtk2-immodule 1.4.7-1ubuntu2
scim-m17n 0.2.2-1
scim-modules-socket 1.4.7-1ubuntu2
scim-modules-table 0.5.7-1ubuntu2
scim-pinyin 0.5.91-0ubuntu12
scim-qtimm 0.9.4-2ubuntu2
scim-tables-additional 0.5.7-1ubuntu2
scim-tables-zh 0.5.7-1ubuntu2

Normal behavior of the toolbar:

1. Hitting Ctrl-Alt-Space (which is the scim toggle on my system) normally switches between my current scim input method and unprocessed keyboard input. When the input is not processed by scim, the toolbar does not appear at all on screen. The toolbar is present on screen only when scim is processing the input.

2. Hitting Ctrl-Alt-RightArrow brings up scim's menu of all available input methods.

I can work for hours and even days with scim showing the above behavior, then suddenly it gets into an abnormal mode. I do not know why it switches to this abnormal behavior. Abnormal behavior of the toolbar:

1. Hitting Ctrl-Alt-Space does not make the toolbar appear or disappear. The toolbar is always present. The only thing which changes is that scim toggles between whatever input method I'm using and the "English/Keyboard" input method.

2. Hitting Ctrl-Alt-RightArrow no longer brings up scim's menu of all input methods. I know that all the methods are still loaded because if I hit Ctrl-Alt-UpArrow and Ctrl-Alt-DownArrow scim goes through its list of methods. I just can't get a menu.

Reloading the configuration does not help. The only way I can get around this is by killing all scim processes and restarting scim.

[Louis-Dominique Dubeau (ldd)]

This bug is still present in Ubuntu 8.04.1

$ dpkg-query -W "*scim*" | awk '$2 {print;}'
libscim8c2a 1.4.7-3ubuntu8
scim 1.4.7-3ubuntu8
scim-bridge-agent 0.4.14-1ubuntu2
scim-bridge-client-gtk 0.4.14-1ubuntu2
scim-bridge-client-qt 0.4.14-1ubuntu2
scim-bridge-client-qt4 0.4.14-1ubuntu2
scim-chewing 0.3.1-2ubuntu3
scim-gtk2-immodule 1.4.7-3ubuntu8
scim-hangul 0.3.1-1ubuntu2
scim-m17n 0.2.2-2
scim-modules-socket 1.4.7-3ubuntu8
scim-modules-table 0.5.7-2ubuntu1
scim-pinyin 0.5.91-0ubuntu12
scim-qtimm 0.9.4-2ubuntu3
scim-tables-additional 0.5.7-2ubuntu1
scim-tables-ja 0.5.7-2ubuntu1
scim-tables-ko 0.5.7-2ubuntu1
scim-tables-zh 0.5.7-2ubuntu1
scim-uim 0.2.0-1build2

[Louis-Dominique Dubeau (ldd)]

I believe this bug is a different bug than the one reported in bug #133803. In this comment:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/scim/+bug/133803/comments/2

Ming Hua wrote: "This [i.e. the behavior reported] is expected for non en_US locales." Other comments indicate that the problem reported in bug report #133803 is triggered by non en_US locales. However, what I am reporting here is triggered even when the locale is en_US.

Moreover, I've found a way to reproduce the bug at will. By following the these steps, I can reproduce the bug with a 100% success rate:

1. Go into the search field in Firefox. I mean the one which sends search queries to web sites like Google.

2. Hit the hot key combination which activates scim. (In scim's Global Setup tab, it is called "Trigger". Mine is set to Ctrl-Alt-Spacebar.)

3. Start typing so that the completion list comes up under the search field. In my case, typing "t" is enough to bring a whole slew of completions.

4. While the completion list is **VISIBLE**, hit the hot key combination which brings up the input method selection menu. (In scim's Global Setup tab, it is called "Show input method menu". Mine is set to Ctrl-Alt-Right.)

At this point, scim displays the abnormal behavior reported in the original bug report.

I've also discovered today that killing and restarting scim after experiencing this bug can make the system unresponsive. It seems to be due to a memory leak in scim which is triggered after restarting scim. I've seen scim-launcher and scim-bridge gobble up to 2.5G of RAM after restarting scim. On my system, the VM trashing makes the system unresponsive for 5-10minutes. I can work around the problem by using the following command to start scim again:

$ (ulimit -v 512000 ; scim -d)

Version numbers and IM settings follow:

Ubuntu version: 8.10

$ dpkg-query -W "*scim*" | awk '$2 {print;}'
libscim8c2a 1.4.7-3ubuntu10
mlterm-im-scim 2.9.4-4
scim 1.4.7-3ubuntu10
scim-bridge-agent 0.4.14-2ubuntu5
scim-bridge-client-gtk 0.4.14-2ubuntu5
scim-bridge-client-qt 0.4.14-2ubuntu5
scim-bridge-client-qt4 0.4.14-2ubuntu5
scim-chewing 0.3.1-3ubuntu1
scim-gtk2-immodule 1.4.7-3ubuntu10
scim-hangul 0.3.2-1
scim-m17n 0.2.2-3
scim-modules-socket 1.4.7-3ubuntu10
scim-modules-table 0.5.7-3
scim-pinyin 0.5.91-0ubuntu12
scim-qtimm 0.9.4-2ubuntu3
scim-tables-additional 0.5.7-3
scim-tables-ja 0.5.7-3
scim-tables-ko 0.5.7-3
scim-tables-zh 0.5.7-3
scim-uim 0.2.0-3

$ im-switch -l
Your input method setup under en_US locale as below.
=======================================================
The configuration "/home/ldd/.xinput.d/en_US" is defined as a link pointing to
scim-bridge
This private configuration supersedes the system wide default.
=======================================================
The system wide default is pointed by "/etc/alternatives/xinput-all_ALL" .
xinput-all_ALL - status is auto.
 link currently points to default
default - priority 10
default-xim - priority 0
none - priority 0
Current `best' version is default.
=======================================================
The available input method configuration files ...

[Louis-Dominique Dubeau (ldd)]

Still present and reproducible in Ubuntu 9.04:

$ dpkg-query -W "*scim*" | awk '$2 {print;}'
libscim8c2a 1.4.7-3ubuntu12
scim 1.4.7-3ubuntu12
scim-bridge-agent 0.4.14-2ubuntu5
scim-bridge-client-gtk 0.4.14-2ubuntu5
scim-chewing 0.3.3-1ubuntu1
scim-gtk2-immodule 1.4.7-3ubuntu12
scim-hangul 0.3.2-1
scim-m17n 0.2.2-3
scim-modules-socket 1.4.7-3ubuntu12
scim-modules-table 0.5.8-1
scim-pinyin 0.5.91-1ubuntu1
scim-qtimm 0.9.4-4ubuntu1
scim-tables-additional 0.5.8-1
scim-tables-ja 0.5.8-1
scim-tables-ko 0.5.8-1
scim-tables-zh 0.5.8-1
scim-uim 0.2.0-3

$ im-switch -l
Your input method setup under en_US locale as below.
=======================================================
The configuration "/home/ldd/.xinput.d/en_US" is defined as a link pointing to
scim-bridge
This private configuration supersedes the system wide default.
=======================================================
The system wide default is pointed by "/etc/alternatives/xinput-all_ALL" .
xinput-all_ALL - status is auto.
 link currently points to default
default - priority 10
default-xim - priority 0
none - priority 0
Current `best' version is default.
=======================================================
The available input method configuration files are:
default default-xim none scim scim-bridge scim-chewing scim-immodule scim-pinyin th-xim
=======================================================

[Louis-Dominique Dubeau (ldd)]

Still present and 100% reproducible in Ubuntu 10.04:

$ dpkg-query -W "*scim*" | awk '$2 {print;}'
libscim8c2a 1.4.9-2
scim 1.4.9-2
scim-bridge-agent 0.4.16-2ubuntu3
scim-bridge-client-gtk 0.4.16-2ubuntu3
scim-chewing 0.3.3-1ubuntu1
scim-gtk2-immodule 1.4.9-2
scim-hangul 0.3.2-1
scim-m17n 0.2.3-1
scim-modules-socket 1.4.9-2
scim-modules-table 0.5.9-1
scim-pinyin 0.5.91-1ubuntu2
scim-qtimm 0.9.4-4ubuntu1
scim-tables-additional 0.5.9-1
scim-tables-ja 0.5.9-1
scim-tables-ko 0.5.9-1
scim-tables-zh 0.5.9-1
scim-uim 0.2.0-3

$ im-switch -l
Your input method setup under en_US locale as below.
=======================================================
The configuration "/home/ldd/.xinput.d/en_US" is defined as a link pointing to
scim-bridge
This private configuration supersedes the system wide default.
=======================================================
The system wide default is pointed by "/etc/alternatives/xinput-all_ALL" .
xinput-all_ALL - auto mode
 link currently points to default
default - priority 10
default-xim - priority 0
none - priority 0
Current `best' version is default.
=======================================================
The available input method configuration files are:
default default-xim ibus lo-gtk none scim scim-bridge scim-chewing scim-immodule scim-pinyin th-gtk th-xim
=======================================================

[Rolf Leggewie (r0lf)]

Thank you for your frequent updates on the status. I apologize for the delay in responding. Is this still an isssue?

[Louis-Dominique Dubeau (ldd)]

I cannot help with this any longer because I've moved from Ubuntu to Debian on all my machines.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for scim (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]